I Hate Him!
by Longbourn22
Summary: Why is Hotch punishing Emily, making her do extra reports? Really, the answer is simple but will she buy it?  Another H/P story...maybe a two-part or three!  Please give this a try! Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

Something made me do this!

Okay, it's something that just popped in my head, so here it is…and it's going to be either a two-parter or three.

Thank you HGRHfan35 for sticking with me, bless you!

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own CM or its characters; darn!

Enjoy!

…

**I Hate Him!**

_I hate him!_

_Why?_

_He's an arrogant ass; he's always 'by-the-book', and the 'I'm the Unit Chief' attitude._

Urggh!

_What did it matter how I tackle the UnSub? I got the job done; bad man was caught._

_Now, he was making me sit on my desk for the rest of the freaking week, writing reports. He knew I hate writing reports._

_Talk about abuse._

_Why me?_

_Why does he keep singling me out for shitty assignments?_

"_Work the field, Prentiss."_

"_You and Morgan go here…go there…get there now!"_

Emily was attacking her report with force; the poor piece of paper was horribly abused by her; she had written so hard that the writing was cut through. Needless to say, she had to start afresh.

But at the moment, she didn't care if the paper had several holes.

"Problem, Princess?" Derek was grinning as he picked up his go-bag; he was ready to call it a day.

"Shut up, Derek. Unless you want your family line to end right now." She replied annoyingly, not bothering looking up at him.

"Ooh! Someone is a touch bitchy." He grinned.

"I'll show you bitchy!" She showed him her middle finger.

"Ouch! Let's not be too…"

"Morgan, problem?" Hotch interrupted him.

"Not at all, man. Heading out right now." He said a hasty good night to Emily who didn't acknowledge him as he left.

Hotch, who was standing outside his office looking down at the bull pen, looked down at Emily before he went back to his office, closing the door.

"Ass hole," Emily mumbled as she continued her work. There were five more reports with the next day's dateline.

"Emily?"

She looked up and saw David walking down from his office.

"Late night?" He asked as he approached her desk.

Pointing to the stack of files, "My Friday night date."

Shaking his head, he looked up to where Hotch was in his office.

"I just don't understand why he is punishing you like this," he said.

"Beats me. I'm his punching bag, I guess." Emily shrugged.

"I don't think so. Did you try to talk to him?"

Shaking her head, "No. And I'm not going to."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to give him the satisfaction that this is bothering me."

Heaving a sigh, he said, "You know, you two are alike! Pig-headed, hard headed and stubborn as mules."

Emily looked at him and smiled, "Thanks Dave but don't lump me with him. I'm not like him at all."

"On second thought, I agree; you're more pig-headed than he."

"I'll take that as a compliment." She nodded as she went back to her work. "Now, if you don't mind, I want to finish my date here."

"Mule." Dave said.

"Good night, Dad." Emily mumbled.

"Good night." He left the bull pen.

An hour later,

"Are you finished with the reports?" Hotch voice startled her.

Emily frowned angrily as she looked at the report; she was almost done and as he startled her, she had scratched a pen line all along her work.

"Shit!" she mumbled as she crumpled the piece of paper and threw it violently into the trash can on her right; she had to start afresh.

"Excuse me?" He asked her.

_That's it!_ Thought Emily angrily. _I've had enough of his tyrannical attitude._

She stood up, standing right in front of him, "You know, I don't give a shit anymore. I've had enough of your crap and your holier-than-thou attitude."

"Pren…" He glared at her.

"No. You hear me out. I'm sick and tired of the way you treated me. Yes, I screwed up in the take down but if I were to wait for you, Derek or Rossi, I would have died. He would have killed me and the victim. I didn't have time to wait. It was now or live to regret the consequences if something had happened to Carilyn Anders. I'll be damned if I'm being punished for bull shit." Her chest was heaving, her heart racing.

He stared at her for a moment and said, "Are you done?"

"No. But that's all I can get out for the moment."

"Oh. Now, are you ready to hear me out?" He asked.

She could see he was seething and trying hard to restrained himself. She nodded.

"First, I don't appreciate you yelling at me. You forget, I'm your boss. Second, I'm trying hard to make sure you stay in one piece, alive. Third, I don't like to see you putting yourself in harm's way."

"Why?" She was confused; he was not angry at her per se. Just the way she acted?

"Because you're one of my team. I have to make sure you don't get hurt."

"Bullshit!" She uttered.

Hotch arched an eyebrow.

"You don't get on Derek or Dave, even Reid when they are the one tackling an UnSub. And don't give me this bullshit about me being a female. Oh no, save your chauvinistic act. I can take care of myself."

"I know that. But I…" He stopped.

"You what?"

"Nothing." He sighed. "Just go home. It's late."

He turned to head back up to his office.

Emily tried to read him; he seemed…sad.

_Now I'm a whole lot more confused. I thought he hated me? So why the sadness?_

_Something is just not right._

Not one to leave things as it was, she followed him up the stairs.

Not bothering to knock on the door, she barged in and stopped.

"Hotch?" She frowned.

He was sitting behind his desk with his head in his hands.

He looked up at her when he heard her voice.

"What are you still doing here? Didn't I tell you to go home?" He tried to sound stern but Emily saw that his eyes didn't match his voice.

"Not until you tell me what's going on." She stood in front of his desk.

"Nothing is going on. Go home."

"No. I'm not an idiot and stop telling me to go home."

Hotch sighed as he looked down on his desk.

"Either we talk or we're going to sit here for the rest of the night if we have to. I'm not leaving, and neither are you."

"Pig headed," he mumbled.

Emily grinned slightly, "That's what Dave called me."

"He gave you that speech?" he looked up at her.

She nodded, "If you meant the one about being hard headed and stubborn as mules, then I guess yeah, he did."

Hotch nodded. "I don't understand why he insisted we're alike."

"Yeah, he said that to me too."

Together they uttered at the same time, "We're not alike."

And smiled together.

They sat opposite each other, silent.

Finally after a minute, Hotch began.

"You don't have a clue, do you?" He began.

"I…don't know what you're talking about."

"Why I'm so hard on you."

"No."

"Pre…Emily, for a profiler, you're quite oblivious to what's around you."

"Hotch, what are you talking about, and please no more guessing. You know I hate guessing games and puzzles."

He chuckled which surprised her; he never chuckled for her.

"I know. And I know you hate getting up too early on Sundays. You hate it when someone tells you you're beautiful. You hate to be late to work, and you hate decaf."

Emily's mouth opened; _how did he…_

"You like sticky buns; you're not satisfied unless you had two. You like to watch at least one chick-flick movie per week to satisfy your compassionate soul."

He stood up and came around to her, leaning against the edge of his desk.

Emily found this slightly uncomfortable; he had never stood like this, he always maintained his distance. Then what he just said about her likes and dislikes…

"Hotch?"

Hotch smiled softly, watching her; she tried not to squirm under his intense gaze.

"You know I'm not a very personable person. I don't like anyone invading my personal space, I'm not the type who feels free to heap praises for a job well done. I don't talk about my problems, except to Dave but he has not heard all of it. I carry a heavy burden by choice and most of all, according to Dave, I don't have a social life. It's been almost two years since Haley's death and I've not dated since. I don't want to go on a date because I don't have the time or the desire."

Emily nodded but stayed silent.

Hotch continued, "But something happened; I found my Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite? As in Superman's weakness thingy? Not another puzzle!"

He nodded.

"Okay…where is it?" She asked.

"Not where, who."

"Who…oh…" She realized he was referring to her as he kept his gaze on her.

"Yes. You, Emily."

"Why?"

Hotch chuckled, "If I didn't know better, I'd thought Jack is passing his bad habits to you."

"Hotch, no more puzzles!"

"Okay." He took a deep breath and let it out. "I…I…think you're a great person."

Emily blinked; _did I hear him right? He thinks I'm a great person. That's it?_

"And," he continued. "I'm really attracted to you and I want to get to know more about you, personally." He breathed a sigh of relief.

Emily was stunned. "You're attracted to me."

Hotch nodded.

Emily squinted at him.

"Emily?" He was feeling nervous; _she was not responding to my confession._

What now?

Finally, before he asked again, she spoke. "Let me get this straight, you got on my case for the last few months. Every time I took a step, you lectured me. Every time I tried to contribute to a case, you shot it down. Then, when I tackled that UnSub by myself, you punished me by making me do those damn reports. And all this time you like me, you are attracted to me. What the hell? I don't think so, Hotch."

"Emily…if you'll let me explain," Hotch tried to cut her.

She stood up, "No. I went through hell trying to figure why you hate me. What I had done wrong. All those times I agonized, and I tried to stay out of your hair. And all because you're attracted to me? My god, Hotch! You sure have a strange and sick way of showing it!"

She quickly walked to the doorway but turned around to face him, "I don't appreciate all those times you punished me because you're…you're. You know what? You're acting like a juvenile. Only a kid would do something to a girl he likes. You are not a kid. I'm not a kid. Damn it, Hotch, act your age.

I don't want to hear your expressions of affections for me anymore. I'll put in a transfer Monday. I don't think I can work for you anymore."

With that, she left.

"Emily!" Hotch realized he botched the whole thing.

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ He chastised himself. _How could you be so damn stupid! She's right; I had been acting like a dumb jerk and a juvenile._

And now she was gone.

_Shit! I need to get to her._

Grabbing his jacket and keys, he hurried after her.

…End of Part 1…

So...how is it? Please let me know!

And yes, the second part will be out soon!

thank you!

Lizzie


	2. Chapter 2

I Hate Him!

Part 2

Emily knew that he would be running after her so she decided to use the stairs instead. And called for a cab instead of using her car.

Of course things never worked out the way she wanted or hoped.

Her phone buzzed; she thought of not answering it, figuring it must be _him_.

But it buzzed again.

No…then again, what if it was something else, like another case? The team knew they were to be on standby as they were expected to be on their way to Arizona when they received the official invite.

_Damn! Now was not the moment!_ Emily frowned at her phone as she dug it out of her pants pocket.

It was JJ.

"Prentiss!" She yelled into her phone and cussed at herself; JJ was not at fault.

"Wow! What if I'm the President of the United States calling?"

"JJ, I'm sorry. I just…am having a bad evening. And you are not POTUS; he doesn't make personal calls."

"He could. But anyways, we have the invite to Arizona; there is another dead body, the fifth one. Flagstaff PD sheriff just cried 'Uncle'."

"Okay, I'm still at work, well, just down at the lobby. I'll see you in a bit." Emily pressed the end button and slowly walked back up the stairs she just took.

The rest would be on their way but it would be at least half an hour before they regrouped.

Half an hour of thinking.

Hotch_. That bastard!_ How could he do all that and then said he was attracted to her!

_Damn that infuriating man!_

She stopped walking up the stairs and sat down on one of the steps.

_I can't face him! I can't go to Arizona with the team, with him. How can I do what I have to do and look at him in the eyes and not think about all that dumb-ass stuff he said?_

_No, I need to compartmentalize this until the case is over._

_What about quitting? I could leave right now._

_No, I told JJ I'll be there and I'll be there._

_Just act professional. Just don't engage Hotch in anything verbal._

_Yeah_, she nodded, _that might work._

Closing her eyes for a moment and imagining his earlier words being swept into a bottom container labeled 'ass-holes' in her mind.

Hmm, time for a new container; it was getting full. Seemed she had dealt with more ass-holes than nice guys.

Opening her eyes, she stood up and turned and walked up the stairs towards the BAU.

JJ and Hotch were in the conference room already.

Good, she wouldn't be alone with _him_.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out, she walked up the few steps and went into the conference room, sitting as far away as where he was sitting.

She did not look at him all as she concentrated on the file in front of her and had a little chat with JJ before the others trickled in.

…

As they were on their way to Arizona in the BAU jet, Emily sat far away from Hotch again and was quiet unless she contributed to the case.

Hotch, she saw, was wearing his dark frown; he was mad.

_Good, so am I!_

Then again, she frowned; why was he mad? At me?

She hoped that was not the case as he was the one that started it all.

And she was not one to confront him about it. She didn't feel like playing the compassionate listener.

After the briefing, everyone settled into their own corner with their files.

Emily was concentrating on hers and was jotting down notes when she felt a presence beside her along the aisle. It was Hotch.

She stiffened when she realized it was him.

"Can we talk?" He whispered.

"No." She replied, continued with her notes taking.

"Why?"

She put her pen down and turned to look at him, "Let's get this straight. We are here on a case and I'd prefer if we do not discuss about your personal issues at this moment or the entire time we're in Arizona."

Hotch closed his eyes for a moment, Emily saw that he was frustrated.

"Damn it, Emily!" he hissed. "I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable but I assured you that it was not intended and that somehow, I felt that you…I thought, which I realized now, you would reciprocate my feelings."

Emily's eyes widened; _of all the nerve! He was still at it._

"I don't know what gave you the idea that I liked you in a personal level, I assured you that you've got it wrong. I respect you as my boss, as my supervisor, that's all."

Hotch stared at her and he thought he saw untruth in her eyes. Oh yes, he knew how to read expressions by watching their eyes. And hers were not telling him all.

_Okay, two can play the game._

He nodded. "I'm sorry about this. I will not mention about this ever again. My apologies, Agent Prentiss."

He stood up and walked to the other end of the cabin and sat down, his back towards her and went about his work.

For a moment, just a teensy moment, she felt bad and thought about how honest he was, revealing to her his feelings.

He was not one to do so and he took the risk to tell her, and by telling her, he had revealed that he was ready to take the chance of dating a co-worker despite the strict rules enforced in the FBI about interoffice affairs.

She smiled slightly; _he really liked me._

_Maybe I have been too harsh on him._

_Well, let's see how this case turns out and then he and I are going to have a talk._

_Emily…_

She frowned at herself; her damn conscience was warning her.

_Aren't you a little dishonest here?_

_What are you talking about?_

_Puh-lease! You know what I'm talking about._

_Well, since I'm you, I should know what you're talking about but I don't. So, how about refreshing me?_

_Okay…let's go to the compartments. Label 'Crush'. Oh look! Only one item here._

_Don't do it!_

_Oh, are you remembering now?_

_Yes._

_Yes what?_

Emily closed her eyes; if she could wring the neck of her conscience, she would have done it some time ago.

_I have a crush on Hotch. But that's a long time ago! I gave up on him over a year ago. That is why that is in that box._

_Yes, I know but it could be rekindled._

Emily snorted out loud then blushed when Reid looked up from his work and stared at her.

She shook her head and looked down at her own files.

_I can't._

_Why not? He confessed to you about his feelings. Why not reciprocate._

_Because I'm scared._

_Of what?_

_What if it didn't work?_

_So?_

_I…we would get burned and working in the same place would be major awkward._

_You can't predict the future._

_No but it's still frightening._

_I never thought we would be this scared about a relationship._

_It's Hotch. Not just anyone. He's too important to me._

_Ah ha! You do care for him still!_

_Oops._

_Yes, oops._

_Look, just shut up and go away. I've got work to do here._

_But I'm you and I'm not going away because you are still thinking about this, about him, ergo I'm here._

_Wow, I'm thrilled for you._

_Sassy._

Emily chuckled and quickly looked around her. The grimness of the case would make it seemed insensitive of her if anyone heard her chuckled. Luckily for her, no one heard.

_Emily, just give him the benefit of the doubt. Take it as it comes. If you get burned, so be it. You two are professionals and have more sense than most people. Give it a try. Tell him._

…

As it turned out, she never had a chance to talk to him; they were on the run as soon as the jet hit the tarmac.

As usual, she was teamed up with Morgan and they had been assigned to look over all five crime scenes.

By the time they met up with the others, it was in the early hours of the morning.

Hotch decided the team needed some sleep and ordered them to check into a hotel and rest and reconvene at 730am.

Weary and exhausted, they didn't put up any arguments and left.

As Emily's head hit the pillow, still dressed in her suit, she reminded herself that as soon as opportunity arose when they report back to the precinct, she would confront him.

…

Well, that plan didn't go as it should.

She was looking forward to telling him, figuring he would be elated about her confessions which mirrored his.

Eagerly, she rushed into the precinct, towards the conference room that was set up for their use and stopped suddenly.

She couldn't believe her eyes!

Hotch was hugging a woman!

They seemed to be having a very intimate conversation; she was smiling as if he was whispering something provocative to her!

Feeling sick to her stomach, she turned and ran into the restroom.

_How could he? How could he do this? After he had told me, the day before, that he liked her, he was attracted to her!_

_This was not happening! Who was he?_

_That was not Hotch at all!_

_Oh, I hate him!_

…End of Part 2…

Well, I guess this is going to be more than a two parter!

I know…rotten me!

Thank you to my beautiful beta, HGRHfan35! You know I love ya!

Please, review? Just one word? Or more?

Lizzie


	3. Chapter 3

A very hearty thank you to HGRHfan35 for her patience with me as she beta'ed this story! And so, with much delight, this story is dedicated to you!

And to all who had read and reviewed this story, thank you, thank you!

…

I Hate Him

Part 3

.

Unfortunately for her, this time Hotch saw where she was heading and followed her. He didn't really cared if anyone else was in the ladies' restroom, he banged his way in.

He had seen Emily's tormented look as he was talking to the other woman and cursed at himself because from her point of view, it looked as if he was in a compromising position; hugging another female after he had just declared his feelings for her.

He knew that no matter what she had said in the jet, this matter had became serious, that it needed to be addressed immediately before it festered into some ugly sore.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw Emily clutching the edge of a sink tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Emily," he said quietly.

Startled by his voice she turned to him suddenly, "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk."

"I told you, not while we're on a case." She said angrily.

"What you just saw…"

"Hotch, don't. You do not need to explain. Not to me. I see it now; since I gave you the brush off, you are ready to move on. Only, I didn't expect you to do so that fast. My god, Hotch, I never thought you could be such a bastard. You know I'm here and you had the gall to display your affection for that brunette openly. Please spare me and the others by keeping your hugs for her at a more private place."

Wiping a tear, she brushed past him so fast that he didn't realized what she was doing until he heard the door banged shut.

He was still reeling by her angry words. He didn't have a chance to tell her that what she saw was not what it seemed.

_Damn!_

When Hotch returned from the restroom moments later, he saw that the rest of the team was in the room.

"Hey Hotch, wasn't that Gabby Ramirez?" Dave asked.

Hotch nodded, "Yeah, only she's now Gabby Sanchez." He took a seat opposite from Emily who had her head down.

"Sanchez…Sanchez…as in Martin Sanchez?" Dave wondered.

"The very one; they have been married for about five years now."

Dave frowned slightly, "But I thought she and you had a thing while the two of you were in the same SWAT team?"

Hotch shook his head, "Dave, I was still married."

"I know. She had a huge crush on you, didn't she?"

Derek, Reid and JJ looked up from their files and stared at Hotch; the conversation had become more interesting than the case.

Emily was the only one whose head was still buried in her work.

"That's not true, Dave. It was Martin she was more interested in."

Dave pursued, "Wasn't he supervisor to the SWAT team?"

"Yes he was. And she was not happy about it, frat rules and all."

"Yet they figured how to be together?"

"After I transferred from that unit to the BAU, so did they. Somehow, they finally got together and when they got married, Martin retired from the Bureau. He is now currently Flagstaff's District Attorney. Gaby transferred to this field office."

"Well, all's well that ends well here." Dave said sagely.

"Almost; he's about to be a father for the first time, Gaby just told me." He said as he watched Emily.

Emily suddenly looked up and stared at Hotch who tried not to laugh at her reaction.

Dave grinned, "Really? I should give him a call and offered my condolences."

Hotch turned and nodded at Dave, "I should too, Gaby's expecting twins. She's always wanted a big family."

"That's a quick way to start one!" Dave chuckled.

Before Hotch could add more, a field agent came in and informed the team that there was another attack and this time, the victim survived.

…

_I am such a complete idiot! _Emily admonished herself.

_I should have known not to jump to conclusion and trust him. He was not the type to move on so quickly._

_Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!_

She hurriedly left the room as soon as Hotch handed out assignments.

Leaning against the SUV, she waited for Morgan; their assignment was to get to the hospital to interview the survivor.

A minute later, it was not Morgan that joined her but Hotch.

Her heart gave a little hitch as she watched him approached her.

Feeling nervous, she nodded to him as he stopped in front of her, "Morgan and Reid are going to interview Mitch Colston. We are going to his apartment."

Emily nodded as he turned away from her and headed to the other side of the SUV while she opened the passenger door and hopped in.

The drive to the Colston apartment was made in silence.

Emily wasn't sure if she should take this opportunity but she remembered that she had told him that personal issues were taboo during this case.

"Prentiss," Hotch began, startling her slightly as she had not expected him to speak.

"Yes Hotch?" She replied softly.

"I know what you had said previously on the jet that we should not talk about…us at this moment but I would prefer if we could try to get along, for the sake of this case. The team can pick up vibes and it would not be conducive if they feel uncomfortable working with us."

Emily nodded; he made sense and realized she was being petulant by hardly contributing to the case.

"I'm sorry Hotch. You're right, it's not fair to anyone especially you."

Hotch shook his head, "It's not me I'm talking about. Just…"

He stopped talking and pulled into a parking lot. Parking the SUV, he turned off the engine and faced her.

"No. This needs to be addressed now. I'm not concentrating much at all on this case and it's not fair to the victims and at this moment, the survivor who's hanging by a thread."

Emily watched him; she felt like a heel. He was right; they needed to hash out their feelings with each other before moving on.

"Hotch," Emily began. "I want to apologize to you. What I said to you earlier, it was dumb of me. I should have checked facts first before accusing you of being a…"

"An ass-hole? A bastard?" He grinned slightly.

Emily blushed as she nodded her head. "I didn't know Agent Sanchez was married and that she…you were not hitting on her after you had said you were interested in me. I was being petty and stupid."

On impulse, he put his hand on hers which was on her lap.

Emily gasped slightly at his touch; it felt good.

"So this means you're changing your mind about me?" He asked.

Emily moved her eyes from where his hand was to his face.

"I lied to you. I have been attracted to you for a very long time…more than two years ago." She revealed.

Hotch was startled by her revelation, "That long? I had no idea. I didn't even know and I should because it's about that time that I began to feel something for you."

"What bunch of idiots for profilers we are, huh?" Emily laughed as she shook her head.

Hotch joined her, "Yeah. To think, we have wasted all those time hiding our feelings for each other."

Suddenly, Emily sobered as she looked worried, "We can't do this…I mean having a personal relationship. Frat rules?"

Hotch chuckled, "What frat rules? There are many couples in the Bureau and so far nothing is wrong with us dating as long as we know what we are doing. So did the others who had figured it out too. We are mature adults and if things don't work out in the long run, we'll be able to handle it like mature adults."

Emily thought about what he said and finally nodded.

Hotch saw her nodded and smiled, "Emily, let's not waste any more time brooding over everything and take things one day at a time. Now that I know you like me very much, I really want to take this to the next level."

"And what is that?" She asked even though she knew what the answer was.

However, she was not prepared for it; he leaned over and kissed her on her lips, her surprised unmoving lips.

But that didn't mean they stayed unmoving for long as she, and her heart, responded to him quickly and passionately.

Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the apartment to begin their investigation.

Smiles were planted on their faces the entire time they worked together.

…

One day later, they were on their way back at Virginia that evening. The case in Arizona was finally wrapped up after they apprehended the UnSub. Clues that were left in the Colston apartment which Hotch and Emily found broke the case.

On the jet, on their way home, the two sat together where they talked softly throughout the flight while the oblivious team sans Dave, slept. Dave wore a grin all the way as he was pleased that his two favorite people finally admitted to their feelings for each other; feelings he had seen and was frustrated about most of the time because those two had been obstinate, refusing to address them.

Yes, there were many times, after the forlorn looks they each had given to the other, he had wanted to knock their heads together but he restrained himself; it was not his problem but still it had been frustrating.

Back to the two.

Hotch, after making sure they were not observed, he reached over and held her hand the entire way as they talked about having dinner after they had landed.

And whatever happened after that first dinner date, they realized that there was nothing that was going to stop them from being together, hopefully forever.

…The End…

.

There we go! A happy H/P ending!

Loved to hear a word or two, or more from you wonderful readers!

Huggerz

Lizzie


End file.
